Hello! Welcome to e-TAs, your on-line help for ECON 4676. So you want to learn how to use Github. In this e-TA, you will learn the intricacies and specifics of working with Github and strategies to keep your file version control under your control. The present issue focuses on the basic operations of Git and Github. The core material was extracted from tutorials at the BDEEP group at NCSA and Prof. Grant McDermott
Motivation
Git(Hub) solves this problem
Git
- Git is a distributed version control system. (Wait, what?)
- Okay, try this: Imagine if Dropbox and the “Track changes” feature in MS Word had a baby. Git would be that baby.
- In fact, it’s even better than that because Git is optimized for the things that economists and data scientists spend a lot of time working on (e.g. code).
- There is a learning curve, but I promise you it’s worth it.
GitHub
- It’s important to realize that Git and GitHub are distinct things.
- GitHub is an online hosting platform that provides an array of services built on top of the Git system. (Similar platforms include Bitbucket and GitLab.)
- Just like we don’t need Rstudio to run R code, we don’t need GitHub to use Git… But it will make our lives so much easier.
Repositories
When you begin a new coding project, you will want to create a new repository. This repository will grow to hold all of the important files for your project.
Create a repository
You can create a new repository by clicking the green “new repository” button on your github homepage.
